Page 7 of The Vampire’s Prey

He gestures towards the play space. Women and men are milling around, serving the vampires with either drink or themselves. A thump of longing fills my chest. What am I looking for? By all means, any one of these sweetbloods should have satisfied me by now. What am I waiting for? They are food. What is keeping me from eating my fill?

At Lucius’ beckoning, a woman walks forward, eyes lowered. “Would she satisfy you?”

She looks up at me, a mixture of hope and lust swirling from her body. She’s stunning. Shimmery, soft hair, breasts that can fill a handful and an ass made for spanking. Visually, she’s everything I want. But then, she’s not her. Damn it! Why can’t she get out of my head? This is proof that I’m losing it. Since when did I care so much about the chase, the puzzle? This woman was willing and wanting, and yet, I still find myself drawn to the slight acidity of the bartender upstairs.

“Thanks, Lucius, but I’ll be fine with this.”

He waves the woman away, and I turn before I can see the look of disappointment in her eyes. I was disappointed too. There were two things keeping me from storming back upstairs and claiming my prize for the night. One, Lucius’s club is in need. Two, I’m not in control of myself. I can’t guarantee that I won’t hurt her. Or worse. I sigh. Three things in actuality. I do not have her consent. However, when I get back, all of those things are going to change.

“You’re not that old Adrianus. You speak and act like a vampire quadruple your age. I’m afraid you’ll miss out if you keep holding to your standards.” He looks over to the dais, a flash of tenderness lighting his eyes as he looks at Selene. “Enjoy your blood. I have my own prize to tend to.”

As he leaves, I grab my glass and down it in one gulp. He’s right. I hate that he’s right, but he is. The blood flows through me, taking the edge off my hunger. For tonight, it is enough, but after my trip, I will not go off of tap again. I will claim what I want. Anything is better than just what’s on tap.

I motion for one more and down it before heading back to my crypt. I have a lot of planning to do if I’m going to convince Rapunzel to let down her hair for me. Excitement creeps in. How many decades has it been since I’ve been on the hunt? Far too long.

Closing my eyes, I picture her before me. I can easily imagine my fangs descending and puncturing her flesh, the warm blood sliding over my tongue. The fact that my hiatus ends soon makes it all the sweeter. Soon I will scale her wall and take my prize.

1

Evangeline

“How long does it take for someone to get a coat? Maybe they staffed me in the wrong place. I could have gotten his coat within minutes.” I look back over to the clock behind me. “It’s been almost an hour.”

“Almost an hour since what?”

“Since what?” I rake my hand through my hair. The braid is already half down by this point, so what is the point of caring if the rest of it comes down? “Since he’s gone to get his coat.”

Green looks over in the direction of the coat check. An expression passes over her face that I can’t make out. She knows something. I can feel it. “Are you sure he didn’t just leave when you weren’t looking? I’ve seen several people come and go.”

“Of course, I’m sure. I’ve been watching him ever since he went back there.”

She turns to face me, hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. “Oh, have you? So, instead of doing your job, you’ve been drooling after a man you’ve been swearing up and down that you have no attraction to?”

“No of course not. I’ve been doing my job!” I motion to the drinks in front of me. The current customers seem to be sitting there happily slurping their cocktails and beer. The last thing I needed was to be thrown out. “Trial run.” Theophilus’ voice echoes in my ear. I really need to tread this line carefully. Now that I know Club Toxic has at least two vampires, I have to make myself indispensable. This night cannot be my last.

“Uh-huh. I can see that. You’ve actually been doing a great job here. And that’s why I’m pretty sure you just missed him. Trust me, as big as this club is, there is a limited amount of space. The quicker we can get people out, the quicker we can get more butts in here. That means more drinks to serve and more tips to get. Coat check also gets tipped on how fast they get the coats out. Why would they just take their sweet time? Think about it.”

Damn it. She has a point. Did I really space out so much that I didn’t see him come out? My eyes widened. How could I be so stupid. Of course, I wouldn’t see him. He’s a vampire. He probably used his super speed to race out of here. Or maybe he turned into a bat? I start wiping the counter down in front of me, rubbing really hard at a spot of the wood. That’s exactly what happened. How stupid am I? He’s probably out draining some poor, unsuspecting woman while I’m sitting here playing nursemaid to a bunch of drunks.

My scrubbing gets faster and harder. I hate that I’m stuck here. What good am I just serving drinks?

“Pretty sure that spot is clean. You scrub any harder, and you’ll make a hole in the counter.”

I stop and look down. Already there is a slightly worn spot showing through. “You’re right, Green. Sorry. I guess I got lost in thought.”

She laughs. “That can happen, especially as things start winding down.” She glances back at the clock. “Almost time for the last call. Do you want to call it or have me?”

“You do it. I’ll start gathering the empty cups.” At this point, there’s no need to call any undue attention to myself. I busy myself with the glasses, keeping my head down and my eyes peeled. I don’t expect to find any more secrets tonight. Two vampires in one location is more than enough. Two, I can probably handle, any more than that might be a problem.

“Last call! Get your drinks now, and don’t complain later if you don’t!”

Laughter threatens to bubble up as I see Green standing on the bar. I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t help but laugh when we interact. I can just imagine what Father would have to say about that. Rejoice when your brother rejoices. Other than that, mission first. My mask slides back into place, replacing my mirth with emptiness. Mission first. That’s what he would be saying if he were here with me right now.

Panic fills me. I have to do this right. I can’t screw up. Now is not the time to make friends. My job is to prove that I have what it takes to be a member of The Family, the family I’ve been in since I’m 6 years old, still trying to earn my place. With that thought, I take my orders as quickly as I can. My number one priority is keeping this job, so I can keep my position. Eyes on the mission.

The rest of the night seems to go by in a blur. It’s a lot easier to do my job when one vampire doesn’t come down from upstairs and the other hasn’t shown his face since he’s left. What is with that other guy? Adrian, I think she called him. Never in my life has anyone affected me in any way. It wasn’t like I didn’t want sex or anything. And I have had a few moments where I snuck out to satisfy my urges. But they were never anything to write home about. Certainly nothing worth facing Father again over, Father who took me in when I had no one left, Father who I seem to always fall short of pleasing. The only time he caught me pleasuring myself, it was raps to the hands with a ruler and cold water therapy. Shivering, I force that memory back into my brain. I can’t go there again.

“Earth to Evangeline.”